When the forecast is dreadful, for example freezing cold temps, blustery winds, rain, snow, or a combination of all of them, what do you do?
Let’s face it, being cold, wet and miserable for hours on end is not very appealing to most hunters. Do you make the easy choice and stay at home on the couch watching your favorite game? Or do you actually consider braving the elements for that big buck, despite what Mother Nature is going to throw at you?
These are some of the questions that every hunter faces each winter. There are no wrong answers. It is a personal decision.
It is not for everyone
I polled my closest hunting partners to get their input on what they do when faced with severe weather conditions. These guys are all avid deer hunters who have at times braved some severe conditions in their hunting careers just to try to get that elusive big buck.
Surprisingly, the answer to my hypothetical question was that most of them would choose to stay home and wait for a better day, when conditions and their chances of success were better.
I am reminded of a saying my dad often used in his last few years of hunting. When I would ask if he wanted to come hunt with me on a bitter cold day, he would say, “You know, I am just not as mad at those deer as I used to be.”
Dad’s words seem increasingly wiser the older I get!
Accessibility matters
How do you access your hunting area? The method of accessibility to your hunting area should play a major part in your decision to hunt or not to hunt in rough weather.
I consider myself to be as hardcore as any hunter I know, but to access my favorite hunting location I drive my open boat for 40 minutes down the Atchafalaya River. I am well aware of the size of the waves the wind whips up during bad weather. Those conditions deter me from risking a trip down the river.
A good example is the surprise snow storm we all experienced last January. I thoroughly enjoyed the day, playing in the snow and sledding on the levee with my family. We had a blast! A few days later, I checked my game cams and found that on every one of them deer were on the move all day during the snow storm. I had not even considered hunting that day, as my boat had 2 feet of snow in it. If I could have made it to the boat landing, which was very questionable, the boat ride would have been brutal. However, a hunter who has access to land behind his house or nearby could have used the opportunity to make an unforgettable hunt. I have always thought how cool it would be to hunt in the snow.
Your choice of hunting stand
Let’s keep it real. Hunting out of a ladder stand or a climber compared to hunting in an enclosed box stand is vastly different. In the former, you are completely exposed to the elements for many hours at a time. In the latter, you can be dry, warm and not exposed to the wind. This is another crucial part of your decision to stay in or go for it. In my opinion, the box stand hunters are more likely to choose to hunt a bad weather day.
Braving the elements
Morgan City’s Sam Allen and his son, Baylor, were invited to hunt at a buddy’s private lease in Tennessee back in 2022. The forecast was bleak. Forty degrees, cold rain and windy. As public land hunters, they were not about to sit out on an opportunity to hunt on a private lease.
Early on, Baylor, who was 13 at the time, had a 4-point buck down. Moments later, Sam Allen had a nice doe on the ground as well. The hunters dragged each of their deer closer to their box stand, then they got back up into the stand to celebrate. Despite the weather, it had been a great day.
Baylor called his grandfather to recount the excitement of the hunt. At the same time, Sam Allen was talking with his buddy on the phone. Then he looked down and there was the biggest buck he had ever seen looking right up at him only steps away.
Sam Allen froze and whispered to his son, “Don’t move!” But it was too late. The buck bolted and was flying across the field. Thinking quickly, Baylor let out a loud “Waahhh!” The buck never broke stride. He tried again. It was still running. One last desperate “Waaaaaahhh!” The buck slammed on the brakes at 150 yards and turned sideways. Sam Allen was on him and his .308 put the buck down where it stood.
The two hunters were ecstatic! They could not believe what had just happened. Ground checking the buck revealed a beautiful 10-pointer. It was Sam Allen’s first racked buck. Suddenly, the cold, rainy, windy day seemed wonderful. What an adventure they would have missed had they decided to stay home due to the miserable weather.
Ryan “Bad weather” Lamonte
In 2019, Ryan Lamonte of Slaughter was bow hunting a very nice buck. He was hunting on a 1-acre piece of land that was next to a 400-acre pine thicket in East Feliciana Parish.
“I had seen this buck for the past few years on my game cams,” Lamonte said. “He only showed up between midnight and right before daylight.
“I was feeling a bit under the weather on that Tuesday (Oct. 29). Plus the wind was howling. I decided to hunt that afternoon anyway. I hunted the entire afternoon and did not see a deer.”
This was unusual, as Lamonte said he always saw deer at that stand. He had left out some corn in an area where he had created a shooting lane for his bow. Right before dark things got interesting.
“I could hear him, but I could not quite see him,” Lamonte said. “He was in and out of the thicket. Finally, he stepped out to try some of the corn. I put my pin on him and released an arrow.”
Unbeknownst to Lamonte, his arrow clipped a yaupon, causing it to hit high in the spine of the buck.
“He dropped, but tried to move, so I put another couple of arrows in to finish him off,” Lamonte said.
At that moment, it began to pour down raining. It rained for the next several hours.
“Had I not hit that yaupon, and had to trail my buck, it would have been bad news for me,” Lamonte said. “Trailing in that rain would have been impossible.”
Oops, he did it again!
Fast forward to 2022. Again, Lamonte was hot on the trail of a massive buck. On Dec. 14, the forecast was ominous. Gusting winds, rain and cold were rapidly approaching. Lamonte reported to work and shortly afterwards received a text from one of his game cams. The camera showed that buck trailing a doe at 6:25 a.m.
“I felt so bad that my buck was on the prowl next to my stand, and I was stuck at work!” Lamonte said.
Suddenly, like divine intervention, his boss texted him that everyone was being sent home due to the impending bad weather. Lamonte was gone in a flash.
“The wind was howling so hard, I considered getting down from the old, creaky stand I was in,” Lamonte said. “I was fearing for my safety.”
But he was encouraged by a number of spikes who kept popping in and out of his view. They seemed spooked and he thought that was a good sign that the big buck was still in the area. Eventually, a doe came out at 150 yards and began eating corn. Shortly thereafter, another deer nosed into his view near the doe. A massive rack came into view. It was the one he had come for. For a moment, he ignored the shaky stand and the howling wind.
“This was the one,” Lamonte said. “I eased my Savage .270 rifle out the window, I pulled the trigger and he dropped where he stood.”
The buck sported a 10-point rack with a double brow tine. It weighed an impressive 210 pounds and scored 154 inches. It was Lamonte’s second 150-plus-inch buck in the past few years. A rarely achieved accomplishment in Louisiana.
On both occasions, Lamonte refused to let the weather conditions dissuade him from the relentless pursuit of his prized bucks.
